Thoughts from the yoga mat life

Lovin’ yoga nidra

Days like yesterday I especially value having a yoga practice. There were no challenging poses on my mat, just the stillness of a little meditation and a much needed mental break.

After a week filled with calls, meetings and conference sessions, I came home tired and excited with a thousand racing thoughts. Meeting many people at once is a fascinating creative spark for me that sometimes leaves me overstimulated, physically depleted and on mental overdrive. All I want to do is work on new ideas despite the fact that I can hardly hold my head up.

I can go straight to bed, take an hour or more to get to sleep or sometimes unexpectedly get a second wind and end up awake all night. Handy on New Years Eve, but not what I want at the end of a busy week.

When I very much want to think, but I really need to just rest, a little yoga nidra (or yogic sleep) does the trick for me. It’s a form of lucid sleep based on relaxation, body awareness and visualization that’s very effective in balancing me out. You can read about it and find sessions online pretty easily. This is the one I used last night. Slept like a baby.